President Donald Trump late Tuesday afternoon dug his heels in to defend the embattled kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Using the exact same defense he has for everyone from Roy Moore to Brett Kavanaugh, Trump said that King Salman has yet to be proven guilty of ordering the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“Here we go again with you know you’re guilty until proven innocent,” The Associated Press reports Trump said in an interview with the AP.
Trump is “comparing it to allegations of sexual assault leveled against now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation hearing,” and “says Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman both deny any knowledge of what happened to Khashoggi,” the AP adds.
Widely-believed reports, many linked to Turkish officials, say a 15-man hit squad was waiting for Khashoggi when he entered the consulate, and that he was murdered immediately.
Additional reports over the past 24 hours say Saudi Arabia is debating announcing Khashoggi was killed as the result of an interrogation gone bad.
His body reportedly was dismembered with bone saws.